Why Meghan Markle Has Been Out of the Public Eye This Week

It’s only been about a week and a half since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement, though it feels like it’s been about a year. After the news was made public on Monday, the pair concluded the week with their first joint appearance as an engaged couple, as the two wore coordinated outfits for an outing in Nottingham. It was a splashy debut for the pair, as nearly every aspect of the Friday mission made headlines (Meghan Markle Picks Up a Well-Wisher’s Glove!).

But things have been slightly quieter on the Meghan and Harry front this week. Harry made an appearance Tuesday night at a caroling concert held at St. Luke’s Church in London. While Markle was not in attendance, Harry’s ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonaswas—as you can imagine, this is the sort of detail that gets the Daily Mail impossibly giddy.

Per E! News, we now have an explanation: Markle is in fact back in Los Angeles, where she is reportedly visiting her mother, Doria Ragland. Markle is, according to the source, going to be heading back to London for Christmas, where she will take part in the royal traditions at Sandringham, which involves spending part of the holiday with the Queen. After that, vacation: the two will be “looking forward to some sun.” (Count on paparazzi staking out literally every possible location across the globe that involves getting some sun now, in advance.)

The most entertaining part of the E! sourcing is the information about how the two reportedly keep in touch when they are in separate locations. They are—we hope you’re sitting down for this one—“big texters.” Additionally, Harry loves to “use an emoji or GIF.” (Is this meant to imply Meghan Markle does not love to use a GIF? We’ll all have to stay tuned.) The two also—again, try to keep it together when reading this—FaceTime “every day when they’re apart.” (Someone should be getting these two an iPhone endorsement deal, or something.)